(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a continuous drain-type dehumidifier. More particularly, the present invention relates to a dehumidifier that can continuously drain water generated by dehumidification without storing the water in a water tank.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A typical dehumidifier is an appliance for removing moisture from indoor air. There are various dehumidifiers using different dehumidifying methods.
Among the dehumidifiers, a cooling-type dehumidifier using a cooling cycle in which moisture is removed from the air by condensing the moisture contained in the air when the air passes through a vaporizer.
The dehumidifier includes a case defining an appearance of the dehumidifier and provided with an air inlet, an intake fan that is installed in the case to suck external air, a dehumidifying unit that removes moisture from the air sucked by the intake fan by condensing the moisture contained in the air, and a water tank for storing the water generated by the dehumidification of the dehumidifying unit.
The dehumidifying unit includes a compressor for compressing a gaseous refrigerant into a high temperature/pressure state, a condenser for condensing the high temperature/pressure gaseous refrigerant, and a vaporizer for vaporizing the refrigerant that is reduced in pressure while passing through an expansion tube via the condenser.
The refrigerant circulates through the humidifier. That is, the refrigerant is directed to the vaporizer through the compressor and returned to the vaporizer via the condenser and expansion tube. At this point, when the air is sucked into the case by the rotation of the fan, the sucked air is cooled down to or below the dew point while passing through the vaporizer and condensed. Therefore, the moisture contained in the air is removed by being changed into dewdrops.
The dewdrops are directed into the water tank and stored as water. When the water tank is fully filled with the water, the water tank should be emptied.
In order to empty the water tank filled with the water, the water tank installed in the humidifier is separated from the case and the water filled in the water tank is drained out of the water tank. Alternatively, a drain pump installed outside or inside the dehumidifier may be used to discharge the water out of the water tank.
The above-described water discharging methods are a manual discharging method where the user empties the water tank by himself/herself and an automatic discharging method using the drain pump. Therefore, when the manual discharging method is used, the user may feel inconvenience in use. When the automatic discharging method is used, the user may face restriction on a using place of the humidifier.
That is, when the humidifier employing the manual discharging method is used, the user must periodically empty the water tank. This is troublesome for the user. When the humidifier employing the automatic discharging method, a discharge pipeline must be installed and thus the user may face the restriction on the using place of the humidifier.
Due to the above-described limitations, a method for continuously drain the water generated in the dehumidifier has been researched and developed.
For example, a method for directly discharging the water generated by the dehumidifying unit out of the dehumidifier using a hose has been used.
This method has a limitation in that, since dust and/or bacteria are sucked together with the indoor air into the humidifier, the water that is substantially discharged from the dehumidifier is unsanitary.
Therefore, if the water from the dehumidifier leaks during the discharging process, the indoor place may be contaminated.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.